KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - Eight million women in the United States are living with heart disease. To help show support for the fight against the disease, today is National Wear Red Day.

Heart disease is the number one killer of women - you may be at risk and not even know it. We talked with a woman who didn't know, but got help just in time.

Margaret Heins thought she did everything right. She isn't a smoker. She exercises and eats well.

"I began to have this little pain in the center of my chest, little tiny pain, and I thought well that should go away."

But it didn't. She called her doctor who sent her to the emergency room.

"I had a blockage. Actually I had 2 arteries that were pretty well blocked and that was what caused the pain."

She had to have a 2 way bypass.

"I was pretty angry, I was pretty upset. In denial."

For a year, she's been coming to the Cardiac Rehab Program at Ft. Sanders West.

"It's just a good safe environment to begin to get your confidence built back up and get new habits going," says Amy Dale, a nurse with Parkwest Medical Center.

Alongside other women with similar cases of heart disease, Margaret walks, lifts weights and gets her vitals checked.

"We want women to know that they are at risk, and it's all ages of women, young and older," says Dale, who adds women tend to have a few different symptoms like:

Discomfort in your back between your shoulder blades and nausea. But you could still have discomfort in your chest, arms, stomach, shoulders, neck and jaw.

"The quicker we can pick up on what is going on and get a proper diagnosis, then the better the outcome is going to be."

And days like "Go Red For Women", help spread the word about the risk of heart disease and help save lives.

"We need to be aware that heart disease is a major killer in this country and we can do so many things to prevent it," says Heins.

Preventing heart disease is easy and costs you little to nothing: Exercise at least 30 minutes a day, eat healthy and don't smoke.

For more information about heart disease, click on the link below.

There is a Heart Wise event at UT Medical Center on February 20 from 7:30 to 2:00. For more information call 305-6970.